Description

SOUTH PETHERTON CP
ST41NW
COMPTON DURVILLE
2/91 Manor House

19.4.61

GV II

Detached manor house, now part of the religious community of St. Francis. C17, possibly 1680, modified in C19, north
crosswing rebuilt by then owner Captain Firth to his own designs. Ham stone ashlar; Welsh slate roof between coped
gables; ashlar chimney stacks, Two storeys with attics and basement, the north crosswing 3 storeys attics: east
elevation to road of 7 bays. Ovolo-mould mullioned windows in wave-mould surrounds, separate labels; 3-light bays, 1, 2
and upper bay 3, 4-light lower bay 3; bay 5 has a 2-storey angled bay window to match of 1+3+1 lights, with hipped
slate roof; bay 6 has small single-light windows; bay 7, the end gable of the north crosswing, has pairs of
chamfer-mullioned windows at each level, 2-light to basement, first floor and attic and 3-light to ground floor, all
with labels: bay 4 is a projecting 2-storey porch, with small circular windows in north wall, and in south wall an
ovolo- mould segmental-arched opening into open porch, with chamfered cambered-arched doorway into main block, above
being a 2-light mullioned window without label, all windows rectangular-leaded, with some iron-framed opening
casements. Long ramp and flight of 6 steps to porch. North elevation of crosswing of 5 bays, built into side of hill,
has single and 2-light chamfer-mullioned windows in recess with labels. Interior not seen, but reported is a 3-room
plan with through passage, with some C17 and C18 panelling; original outside doors; several cambered-arched fireplaces,
with large fireplace in south room; some chamfered beams with scroll stops; roof a C19 replacement: it is thought that
the north crosswing is a rebuild of the former service rooms. A fireback in the house is dated 1680 with the initials
JS (for John Stuckey, owner of the manor at that date) may give a rebuilding date: the estate may have pre-Doomsday
origins, and was held by the Durville family in the early C13. In 1949 the house was transferred to the Fidelity Trust
for religious uses; the Community of St Francis took up the tenancy in 1962, and opened a small hospital 2 years later
(VCH, Vol III, 1974; VAG Report, unpublished SR0, September 1980).

Listing NGR: ST4193417285

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26583034

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]